Historic election victory in Northern Ireland: The Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein becomes the strongest party in the regional parliament for the first time. She faces a difficult government formation.
For the first time, the Irish nationalist party Sinn Fein is the strongest party in the regional parliament in Belfast. It’s a historic election victory in Northern Ireland. When all the votes were counted, Sinn Fein won 27 of the 90 seats at the Stormont. The pro-British DUP won 25 seats and admitted defeat. Sinn Fein top candidate Michelle O’Neill announced the beginning of a “new era”. However, she faces a difficult task of forming a government.
“This is a very important moment of change today,” said O’Neill. The 45-year-old is now set to become the first regional head of government to advocate reunification with the Republic of Ireland. “I will offer leadership that is inclusive, that celebrates diversity, that guarantees rights and equality for those who have been excluded, discriminated against or ignored in the past,” she announced.
Brexit is busy in Northern Ireland
DUP boss Jeffrey Donaldson admitted defeat. He reiterated his opposition to his party taking part in government unless there are changes to the Northern Ireland Protocol, which regulates customs rules for the region in the post-Brexit agreement with the EU.
The Northern Ireland Protocol provides for customs controls on goods traded between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK. The government in London agreed to this in order to prevent controls at the inner-Ireland border, as this could endanger the peace process in the former troubled region. The DUP rejects the planned goods controls and demands the deletion of the protocol without replacement.
Forming a government is now likely to be difficult, as the 1998 peace agreement requires that the regional government in Belfast be led jointly by Catholic nationalists and Protestant unionists. “The people have spoken and our job now is to act. I expect others to stand up too,” O’Neill said.
DUP heavyweight Edwin Poots, on the other hand, warned that negotiations to form a government could take “weeks, with a bit of luck, or even months”.
O’Neill heralded “healthy discussion” about Irish reunification
The Good Friday Agreement was concluded in 1998 to end the violent conflict between pro-British Protestants and Catholics striving for independence from London. It provides for the two largest parties in the British provinces to share power. The Northern Ireland conflict has killed nearly 3,500 people in three decades.
Sinn Fein was formerly the political arm of the paramilitary Irish Republican Army (IRA) and remains committed to holding a referendum on reunification of British Northern Ireland with the Republic of Ireland. In the campaign for the regional elections, however, the party put this concern on the back burner and concentrated on social issues such as rising living costs. O’Neill now announced a “healthy discussion” about Irish reunification.
Alongside Sinn Fein, the multi-denominational Alliance party is the big winner of the regional elections. She finished third with 17 seats behind the DUP. Party leader Naomi Long called for old tensions to be overcome. “We’re serious about it (…). We’re not interested in playing games.”
British Northern Ireland Minister Brandon Lewis is expected in Belfast shortly. He called for unity and appealed to all parties to form a functioning government “as soon as possible”. Irish Prime Minister Michael Martin declared that “all political parties and elected officials” must “serve the interests of all residents of Northern Ireland”. The US government called on Protestant and Catholic politicians to share power under the Good Friday Agreement.
Source: Stern
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